involving world war i combat pilots in love with the same woman. the oscars ceremony that year was attended byjust 270 people at the hollywood roosevelt hotel, and it lasted just 15 minutes. # i can feel it coming in the airtonight... i arrived in los angeles to cover the oscars for the first time in the 1980s with the late great bbc film critic barry norman. i can see that the party's taking over here now, barry... in subsequent years, american film reviewer david andsen, who wrote for newsweek, joined barry to comment on the oscars for the bbc. the biggest voting branch in the academy as actors. this veteran hollywood—based film critic and film festival programmer is still thriving. he remembers the 1950s when the oscars were a much larger cultural phenomenon reflecting perhaps america's superpower status. the big stars would all be there — the elizabeth taylors and kurt douglases and burt lancasters, and they would get enormous ratings in those days. hollywood had become the world's great empire and they were making movies